A U.S. soldier in Iraq was charged with murdering a fellow serviceman and trying to kill another following an argument last month. An Army spokesman said Wednesday that Spc. Chris Rolan used a military-issue 9 mm handgun to fatally shoot 20-year-old Pvt. Dylan Paytas, of Freedom, on Nov. 16 in Baqubah, Iraq. Rolan was also accused of attempted homicide in the shooting or attempted shooting of Pvt. Mastermichael Ramsey, said Maj. Steven Warren, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division of Fort Benning, Ga. Rolan and the two victims were assigned to the brigade. The Army didn't say if Ramsey was wounded, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in Thursday's editions. The Fort Benning public affairs office did not immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press. ... http://www.usatoday.com

On the fifth day of Saddam Hussein's trial, as it looked more and more likely that the main defendant would not show up, a U.S. official working with the court suddenly succumbed to frustration. "I haven't got a damn clue what's going on," he snapped at a reporter quizzing him about the brewing chaos. "They don't tell us a damn thing," he said, marching away in apparent despair. It was an unwitting insight into a process that has been nearly two years in the making but which in just five days of stilted hearings spread over the past eight weeks has failed to impress many Iraqis or international observers. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1385584

U.S. air marshals who shot and killed an American Airlines passenger acted "consistent with their training" and an investigation will determine if any changes are needed in operating procedures, the White House said on Thursday.Florida resident Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, was killed on Wednesday in Miami as he ran from an aircraft. Officials said he claimed to have a bomb in his backpack. Witnesses said the man might have been mentally ill. "I don't think anyone wants to see it come to a situation like this, but these marshals appear to have acted in a way that is consistent with the extensive training that they have received," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan....http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1385542

An Israeli airstrike targeting a group of militants in the northern Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians and wounded seven others Thursday, Palestinian witnesses and health officials said. The airstrike appeared aimed at a group of three militants from the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gathered near the town of Jebaliya, according to witnesses. Ambulances and security rushed to the scene. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-12-08-gazaairstrike_x.htm?csp=34

When Vanuatu's Mount Manaro began dumping ash on the cabbages he grows in his shack's garden on the volcano's slopes, Markson Mala knew it was time to head downhill. He and the other 100 residents of Wainasasa, on the northern flank of the volcano that towers over this remote South Pacific island, boarded trucks and fled to lower ground last week. "Everything is left behind. We brought only clothing, pots and bush knives for cutting fuel," said Mala, a 54-year-old retired teacher. He said ash rained down on villagers' gardens, forcing them to wash all their food. Residents live in huts made of palm fronds and sheets of tin and grow their own vegetables. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/08/tech/main1108409.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=World_1108409

Investigations have begun after US air marshals on board an American Airlines flight shot and killed a man who started acting suspiciously. US citizen Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, fled before take-off in Miami, saying he was carrying a bomb, officials said. It was later confirmed that Alpizar had no explosives in his luggage. Witnesses suggested that the Costa Rican-born man may have suffered from mental illness. The fatal shooting was the first since more marshals were deployed after 9/11. James Bauer, head of the US air marshal service in Miami, said that controlled explosions carried out on Alpizar's luggage confirmed he was not carrying a bomb. There was no indication of any link to terrorism, but federal air marshals were deployed in airports around the US as a precaution, Mr Bauer added. ...http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41098000/jpg/_41098784_planeap203b.jpg